Evaluation of Local Gelation Behavior of Aqueous Methylcellulose Solution Using Quartz Crystal Microbalance

The physical gelation of an aqueous methylcellulose (MC) solution in response to temperature change was evaluated using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), which is an extremely sensitive mass balance that measures changes in mass per unit area from nanogram to microgram level. Then, the potential use of QCM for interfacial selective viscoelasticity measurements was investigated. The viscosity changes accompanying gelation were observed as resonance frequency shifts. The gelation temperature determined from the temperature dependence of the resonance frequency shifts showed good agreement with the gelation temperatures obtained by visual inclination observation and rheology measurements. Furthermore, MC molecules were adsorbed, and the local concentration increased at the interface with hydrophobic quartz units due to the surface properties. We believe that QCM enables the evaluation of interfacial viscoelasticity.

Automated summary

The physical gelation of an aqueous methylcellulose (MC) solution in response to temperature change was evaluated using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), indicating that QCM allows for assessment of interfacial viscoelasticity and shows good consistency in observing gelation temperature and viscosity changes.